Immigration news and insights provided by Paul Szeto LLC - a former INS attorney and an experienced immigration practitioner - who can be reached at 732-632-9888, http://www.1visa1.com/ (All information is not legal advice and is subject to change without prior notice.)

A blog about U.S. immigration matters by Paul Szeto, a former INS attorney and an experienced immigration attorney and counsel. Contact Info: 732-632-9888,http://www.1visa1.com/(All information is not legal advice and is subject to change without prior notice.)

Sunday, May 11, 2014

How to correct immigration records for government benefits?

There are important government benefits that immigrants are entitled to. However, most of these benefits are only provided for legal immigrants. Further, a person's immigration status also determines what type of benefits or how much benefits he or she is entitled to. For instance, naturalized U.S. citizens are entitled to more government benefits than permanent residents (green card holders). Hence it is very important for an immigrant to make sure that his or her immigration record is correct.

The Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system was created to allow federal,
state and local benefit-issuing agencies to confirm the immigration status of benefits applicants so
that only those entitled to benefits receive them. The system accesses the databases of the USCIS to confirm an applicant's immigration status. That's why it is very important that your immigration status is correctly recorded in the USCIS databases, so that the benefit agencies can obtain correct information through SAVE.

If you are denied a benefit due to mistakes in your immigration record, you should contact the USCIS to correct the record by making an InfoPass appointment with a local office. To make an InfoPass appointment, visit http://infopass.uscis.gov, or call the National Customer Service Center, 1-800-375-5283. You should bring your immigration documents such as your green card, passport, visas, naturalization certificate, etc., and also documents from the benefit agency that denied you benefits.